"but moons have little defense against an aggressive dark star; if anything, lingering around them makes it more likely for several dark stars to form a coalition and absorb the light of a few moons. i once saw two assassins even attempt—and one succeed—to seize the unicorn's light. it's more of a danger than a boon."
"moons aren't that smart, though. all they do is float around aimlessly. well, save for following a unicorn. it's probably an instinct thing."
"i guess so."
"my bigger question is why the unicorn isn't bothered by a sun or two in its entourage."
"not even ariman consider suns threats to their quarry. what are the odds of a sun overtaking a unicorn and seizing her light?"
Also got any trivia for unicorns and phoenixes of the Eclipsed AU? Including Jewel and Kent?
Not tons, but it's time to remedy that >:)
Some general stuff:
Both Phoenixes and Unicorns are Stellpeci by default. However, they also have a significantly higher chance of full sapience than most Stellpeci.
They also can run into this interesting phenomena of very high sentience and/or partial sapience. Think sort of on the order of the dragons in HTTYD - very self aware and very emotive, but still definitively animals rather than a full on person.
When sapient, neither are very talkative, and often opt for shows of physical attention and affection to communicate rather than speech. Unicorns are slightly more inclined to talk, if only because they hate being misinterpreted.
Unicorns are soft spoken, most times. Calm, gentle, and usually considerate.
Phoenixes are a bit louder, though surprisingly not by much. They like to sing. They also tend to be just slightly more energetic.
Oh, also? You don't "own" a Unicorn or Phoenix. It doesn't matter if they aren't sapient, and it doesn't matter whether they're technically your mount in battle, they aren't really possessions. You are theirs as much as they are yours, and they are only yours insofar as they allow themselves to be (and vice versa). It's a very Narnian dynamic, really.
It is pretty common for Unicorns and Phoenixes to bond to a rider or keeper of some sort. The companionship comes naturally. They're as likely to choose you as you them. However, there is no particular rhyme or reason to who may end up with one - it's not like Ophanim where it's formatted and somewhat ritual.
They're also usually born in nebulas as roamers, because Stellpeci. But they gravitate towards Starfolk in a way uncommon to most Stellpeci.
These guys are very emotionally tuned in regardless, and when bonded are extremely perceptive to their companion's emotions.
As for our two specifically...
Jewel:
Jewel is a dear friend of Angel's. They've been together since being Starlets, and trust each other with their lives.
By extension, Jewel and Hasyut are also quite close. However, it took much longer for them to warm up to each other. Both reacted roughly with "Who's this? What do you mean new person?"
Hasyut was also a little... unsure and possibly jealous? Because Jewel was undeniably there first, and she can't refute that.
Jewel was more indifferent, with an air of "as long as you don't start problems, I'm fine with you." He was kinda aloof for a while, but eventually started initiating some interaction. He did so partly because he could tell that Hasyut was a bit insecure about her position around him, and he's not heartless.
Angel doesn't make a habit of riding on Jewel's back - partly because she doesn't exactly need to, and partly because it feels awkward to her. The most notable exceptions were these:
1) when she got injured in the Caravan Incident and Jewel - upon finding her when she was returned home - was her "wheelchair" for a good bit. He took care of transport and in many cases took care of her.
2) At one point when they were... fairly young, Angel was just... having a remarkably bad week, and getting depressive. Jewel was (reasonably) concerned, and just...scooped her up and said "we're going outside." He took her on a lengthy jaunt through the Midnight Forest and part of the Sanctuary, and by the end had concluded that the Silver Peaks were just... kinda too depressing for Angel at the moment. That was the start of Angel keeping plants in her room.
Like most Unicorns, Jewel takes some pride in his appearance. There is, quite frankly, not much better way to a Unicorn's heart than taking good care of them and grooming them thoroughly. (This is part of how Hasyut bonded with him, after he initiated an interaction or two.) He may not have much practical use for clothes, but he's got a carpet...drape...thingy that goes on his back that he can wear, and often does if Angel is riding (one simply Does Not, Under Any Circumstances, put a saddle or bridle on a Unicorn). He also has some additional armor that he's quite font of. Thanks to some minor levitative magic in his horn, he can usually outmaneuver it himself, although Angel and/or Hasyut often help him anyways.
He's got a playful streak - the foal in him never quite went away. You may catch a glimpse of it if you find him running full speed through an empty field, or rolling in the grass (if you catch the latter, do not say anything or he might die of embarrassment. He's got to maintain some dignity, after all).
Dignified is really the best way to encapsulate him, frankly. Dignified, regal, and composed.
Also, as per Octa's reply on the original post, Jewel is a reference to our beloved unicorn in The Last Battle (Narnia)
Khet:
Khet's name is simply the Egyptian word for "fire."
If there was ever something good Ceren did in his life, it was rescuing Khet.
He found her badly tangled up in a dormant Corospinae and rapidly losing essence, which the Corospinae was draining (this is a survival mechanism of their kind - if they must go dormant, they try to snare other Starfolk in their thorns to leech off of them.
Ceren (at that point... young-ish, think late 20's in human analog) took pity on her and untangled her. He'd intended to just... let her go, and do her thing, but then again... she was awfully hurt...
And then she pulled the wide, starry, wobbly eyes on him and he discovered that there is, in fact, one thing in this whole wide world that he is extremely weak to.
So he brought her home with him and nursed her back to health (perhaps not the most competently, but she recovered fully thanks to some input from Kleisme). Once again, the intention was to have her go free once she'd recovered, but...
Well, she did leave, technically. He was very firm and she did understand. She got... what, maybe two areas of the Spire away, moving at a good clip so as not to give herself time to think. And then she heard an amalgam of yelling and sobbing, and turned right back around.
Ceren met her halfway (once again at the urging of Kleisme) and the two practically barreled into each other.
Needless to say, Khet stayed from then on out.
Interestingly, when Ceren found her, Khet wasn't sapient. Pretty high on the self-awareness, but not sapient.
Over the course of taking care of her, though, she not only imprinted on Ceren, but started to match his sapience. About the time he tried to get her to leave, she was... we'll say Toothless levels of sentient.
After returning, and over the next few months, that crossed the gap into fully awakened and sapient.
Khet may also be the singular entity that Ceren most respects in his life. He's not got a good track record of treating his friends well. Khet is the sole and isolated exception. Khet he treats with utmost respect and care - she is nothing short of precious and priceless to him.
This is both part of why she stays around, and why when his other acquaintances leave, things don't go horrifically south (in... all but one case).
You'd think that maybe Kleisme would get jealous or resentful of Khet for being Ceren's favorite, especially given some of the nonsense he has to put up with from Ceren.
And... you'd be the teensiest bit right.
But the resentment is more leveled silently at Ceren, not Khet. Kleisme gets along quite well with Khet, and always has. They're good friends, and Khet has on several occasions kept an eye out for Kleisme.
Initially, Khet tries to carefully and subtly nudge Ceren out of being quite so awful to Kleisme, and it... kinda works? But it also becomes rapidly apparent that it's a habit, and not one that's going to break, so she's gonna be reminding him for the rest of his days. After admittedly too long of this, she slowly changes her tune to helping Kleisme, and (indirectly) encouraging space between the two. Things that put Kleisme at a distance for longer times, things that don't involve as much interaction, etc. - acclimating Ceren to his absence.
This feeds smoothly into Kleisme's eventual departure when it does happen.
Unfortunately, this is also the singular time that someone's departure from Ceren's life does go south, despite her best efforts.
